The invention relates generally to chew toys for pets and more particularly to a chew toy having a therapeutic effect on a dog""s teeth and gums.
Various products exist in the market which are intended to clean a pet""s teeth as the pet chews the product or to satisfy a pet""s chewing urge. One type of product is an edible chew toy, made of materials such as rawhide, which is extremely hard and therefore unacceptable for certain older dogs or dogs with tooth problems. Other chew toys are formed of soft rubber materials and can exhibit unsatisfactorily high flexibility and/or unsatisfactory low durability. Other plastic products are molded from hard materials and can expose the inside of a dogs mouth to undesirably hard or sharp product. An example of a chew toy formed of a uniform synthetic material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,436, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is often desirable to impart scent or flavor into a pet chew toy. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,513,014 and 3,871,334, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe adding flavor additives to a synthetic molded chew toy, either before or after the chew toy is molded. With such a construction, the flavor or scent materials are present at the surface of the toy and can come off on ones hands when the toy is handled.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a synthetic chew toy for a pet, such as a dog, which overcomes shortcomings of existing chew toys.
Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a synthetic chew toy formed as a composite of two different materials is provided in which a flavor or scent (hereinafter scent) impregnated insert is located within the interior of the toy and is emitted through holes or channels formed in the toy body. The toy can be formed with a rigid synthetic frame, supporting a softer chew portion. The chew portion can include a plurality of projections, preferably having a cylindrical shape with a hemispheric end, extending outward from a base of the chew portion. Thus, the rigidity of the frame provides structure, support and durability for the chew toy, and the relatively softer chew portion can provide beneficial effects to a pet""s teeth and gums, or stimulate greater chewing. By locating a scent module within the body of the toy, less of the scent is likely to get on one""s hands when the toy is handled.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved chew toy for pets, such as dogs.
Another object of the invention is to provide a chew toy for pets, having high durability.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a chew toy for pets, having acceptable softness and flexibility.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a scented chew toy in which less of the scent will be transferred to one""s hands when the toy is handled.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification and drawings.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the article possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.